Chaos Plays Catch-up
An embattled math journal resumes publishing without its editor. Is this journal preparing to close shop?
Percy Jackson & the Joy of Discovery
While scholars worry about how to transmit and teach culture to young children, a teacher has struck gold doing it with brio!
I’m a Friend of “al” — A Rant
The disappearing -al ending seems part of a war on two innocent, helpful letters that exist because we still speak, and therefore seek sounds that let our jaws relax when we reach natural breakpoints. Why are STM editors killing the -al?
Open Access Voted Down at Maryland
Academic freedom cited as main counter-argument.
Are e-Books Already Mainstream?
Consumers are adopting e-books, and even as the base grows, the growth rate is phenomenal. It might be the year for a big shift.
Another New Chef in the Kitchen!
Welcome to David Crotty, a new chef in the Kitchen, who will be bringing dishes from his Bench Marks blog as well as creating new recipes here.
The Google Books Settlement: An Author’s Perspective
The Google Books Settlement has authors up in arms. I’m an author now, and I don’t know what they’re so upset about.
University Presses: Missing an Opportunity?
While university presses shrink and go digital, are they trying to preserve a structural memory in the face of a modern reality?
InCites — More Counting, But Does It Count?
Citations can be counted, but what do they mean? InCites wants to help us interpret them. But are citations data? Or social signals?
Print Goes Out of Style
The MLA’s seventh edition style guide knocks print from its pedestal and dethrones the URL for citations. In other words, its editors get real.
Publisher Rights, Author Perceptions
Journal authors have more rights than they. Why is this disjoint dangerous and what can publishers do?
Twitter in Plain English
Twitter has gone mainstream. If you’re not on it, here’s a movie that might motivate you to jump on board.
A View from Inside Amazon
Image via CrunchBase Part of the reason I wanted to self-publish my first mystery novel was to learn what modern self-publishing could accomplish on a shoestring budget. And I was particularly interested in Amazon‘s role in the world of booksellers. […]
The Author ID Dilemma
The notion of a persistent, unique, portable author identifier sounds reasonable, but there may be a showstopper or two hidden in the mix.
Scientific Plagiarists Talk
What do authors say when they are caught duplicating text and figures from another paper? More than you’d imagine!